My week in Seoul, Korea

I’m writing this post in the back seat of a car which is taking me to Incheon Airport. This ride concludes my one week in Seoul – my first time in this modern city. So for another 43kms – I just saw a highway sign – I’ll try to quickly summarise my experience of this marvellous city.

In many respects, the city for me is very similar to other Asian metropolitans like Taipei and Hong Kong. The people are (usually) friendly, the food is amazing and varied, and technology runs abundant as it’s the norm. Even the way the buildings, public transport, and other infrastructure are laid out is familiar. Korea definitely does have its own unique soul (pun sort of intended) though.

For me, I couldn’t speak a lick of Korean. The first words that I asked someone to teach me were ‘Hello’, ‘Thank you’, and ‘Sorry’.

Annyeonghaseyo– Hello

Kamsahamnida – Thank you

Mianhamnida – Sorry

It wasn’t hard though. I navigated easily enough by reading train maps, pointed at items on the menu, and used Google to find the Korean address of places that I needed to go to show the taxi driver.

To cut an amazing trip short: I ate a lot, I saw a lot, I met some new friends, but I can’t wait to go home.